The man is being held at a police station. The Cypriot authorities will decide how to proceed in the case
French-Israeli diamond tycoon Beny Steinmetz was arrested in Cyprus on a Romanian arrest warrant for an unfulfilled sentence. He appeared in a Larnaca court on Friday for an extradition hearing that is scheduled to continue on September 8.
The 67-year-old billionaire was sentenced in absentia in Bucharest in 2020 to five years in prison for orchestrating the creation of an “organized criminal group” related to land transactions between 2006 and 2008.
These transactions would have caused Romania losses of around 135 million euros. According to a statement from his spokesman, Mr. Steinmetz “was temporarily detained by the Cypriot authorities upon his arrival at Larnaca airport on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the Romanian authorities.”
He will be held at a police station while Cypriot authorities decide how to proceed with the case, the spokesman said.
The press release highlights that a Greek court had already rejected a similar extradition request from Romania in 2022. The businessman was temporarily held in Athens before being released.